Night Currency and the Two Definitions of Night
Aviation uses three different "night" clocks — for passenger currency, for logging night time, and for position lights. Here is how to keep them straight.
"Night" in US aviation regulations does not mean one thing — it means three different things, each on its own clock. Mixing them up is a classic knowledge-test trap.
1. Night passenger currency — one hour after sunset to one hour before sunrise
For carrying passengers at night, 14 CFR 61.57(b) requires three full-stop takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days, made in the period beginning one hour after sunset and ending one hour before sunrise. This is the narrowest window — deliberately, so night-currency landings happen in genuine darkness.
2. Logging night flight time — evening to morning civil twilight
The definition of night in 14 CFR 1.1 is the time between the end of evening civil twilight and the beginning of morning civil twilight, as published in the Air Almanac. This is the clock you use to log night flight time and to meet the night-experience requirements for a certificate.
3. Position lights — sunset to sunrise
Aircraft position (navigation) lights are governed by 14 CFR 91.209: you may not operate an aircraft from sunset to sunrise (in Alaska, during the period a prominent unlighted object cannot be seen) without lighted position lights. This is the widest window of the three.
Keeping them straight
From earliest to latest each evening: sunset (lights on), end of civil twilight (night for logging begins), then one hour after sunset (night-currency window begins). The sun-times tool computes sunset, sunrise and civil twilight for any airport and date so you can see exactly when each clock starts.
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*Reference and training only — not for navigation or as legal advice. Always consult the current 14 CFR, the AIM, your aircraft’s POH/AFM and a certificated flight instructor.*